DISTORTED RESEARCH RESULTS DUE TO CONFLICTS OF INTEREST HAVE NOW BEEN PROVEN
January 18, 2017 by admin
Filed under Health Blog
‘Scientific research’ may not be so scientific after all.
A team of researchers has now shown that there is strong bias in research when drug companies are funding the clinical trials.
Their large analysis showed that bias had occurred in the majority of the drug trials they investigated, when there were financial ties between the researchers and the makers of the drugs they were studying.
The results were significant and means that study outcomes may not be relied upon when research involves financial benefits from the pharmaceutical industry.
In other words, it makes one question whether ‘positive’ clinical trial results may not be so positive after all, and ‘negative’ results are just not declared.
The investigation showed that some of the possible mechanisms for skewing the results included bias by selective outcome reporting, lack of publication and inappropriate analyses. The researchers proved that trials involving financial ties with drug companies were more likely than others to report favourable results.
They conclude that “Financial ties of principal investigators are prevalent and are independently associated with positive clinical trial results. Given the importance of industry and academic collaboration in advancing the development of new treatments, more thought needs to be given to the roles that investigators, policy makers, and journal editors can play in ensuring the credibility of the evidence base”.
Other academics agree. Professor Lisa Bero from the University of Sydney and Dr Andreas Lundh from the University of Southern Denmark have urged trial authors to be more transparent. Professor Bero and Dr Lundh state that researchers should share their data and that they should only participate in industry-funded trials if the data is made public and only if the financial sponsors are stated in the research so that this is obvious to the public. They also propose that journals should reject research by authors who are unwilling to share their data or who fail to disclose financial ties.
It makes you question the full extent of the deception in research.
For now, any research conducted that has been funded by drug companies should be considered with caution.
You can read the full study here: http://www.bmj.com/content/356/bmj.i6770
This is a great article on the corrupt business arrangements that have been shown to take place in medical research:
‘Big Pharma Quietly Enlists Leading Professors to Justify $1,000-Per-Day Drugs’
The pharmaceutical industry is deploying economists and health care experts from the nation’s top universities….. to lend their prestige to the lobbying blitz, without always disclosing their corporate ties.
I sincerely wish there was always the utmost integrity and honesty when it comes to medical research but when money is involved it appears that the lure of the dollars is just too great a temptation for many people.
Yours in Great Health,
Sar Rooney BHSc., ND., DC., DASc., GDSc. (Hons), MATMS, MHATO
Naturopathic Medicine Practitioner, Lecturer, Researcher & Counsellor
Sar has advanced qualifications in the health sciences and naturopathic medicine and is an accomplished lecturer, practitioner & counsellor with 23 years clinical experience.
Specializing in Anxiety & Depression | Women’s Health | Chronic Fatigue | Hormonal Imbalances | Thyroid Disorders | Digestive Health | Autoimmune Disease| Genetic Polymorphisms & Nutrigenomics | Nutritional Medicine | Counselling | Optimal Wellness & Disease Prevention with a Clinical Focus on Identifying & Resolving the Underlying Causes of Symptoms and Disease.
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Reference: Rosa Ahn, medical student, Alexandra Woodbridge, research assistant, Ann Abraham, research assistant, Susan Saba, research professional, Deborah Korenstein, director of clinical effectiveness, Erin Madden, staff statistician, W John Boscardin, professor of biostatistics and epidemiology, Salomeh Keyhani, associate professor of general internal medicine. Financial ties of principal investigators and randomized controlled trial outcomes: cross sectional study. BMJ 2017;356:i6770
Disclaimer: The information provided is not intended to replace medical advice or treatment.
